Mookie Wilson insists he would've beaten Bill Buckner to first in '86 World Series
New York Mets legend Mookie Wilson is standing by his belief that he would've beaten Bill Buckner of the Boston Red Sox to first base in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.
"Bill and I had this conversation many times, many times we had talked about it," Wilson said during an appearance on the "Damon Amendolara’s New York Accent" podcast, as mentioned by Ryan Gilbert of Audacy. "And we actually sat there and watched the game together and dissected the whole inning, Bill and I.
"We both agreed that even if he catches the ball, he said, 'I don’t think I’d beat you to the bag even if I catch the ball,' because of the momentum and the way he was so far off the line, he’s going away and back. At the moment, the pitcher’s out of play. The pitcher’s got no chance, which is another conversation you can have a lot about."
After Kevin Mitchell of the Mets scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at 5-5 in the bottom of the tenth inning, Wilson famously hit a "little roller up along first" toward Buckner, who was often substituted for a better defensive player but wasn't on that fateful night. Buckner failed to cleanly field the ball, perhaps due to seeing the speedy Wilson sprinting toward first, and the Mets won the contest and then defeated the Red Sox in Game 7:
It's worth noting that Wilson's story is hardly new. For a piece from March 1987 shared on the Los Angeles Times' website, both Buckner and Wilson said that Boston pitcher Bob Stanley didn't get a good enough jump off the mound toward first to complete the out in that situation. Wilson insisted at that time he "had a 90% chance of beating Buckner to the bag."
He sounds even more confident about that take today.
"But even if he catches the ball, I stand by my belief and not a doubt, talking with the other guy who was involved, that I would’ve beat him to the bag," Wilson told Amendolara.
Mets fans are thankful they'll never have to know if Wilson is correct. Meanwhile, The Boston Globe and other outlets have explained over the years that Boston fans and Buckner eventually forgave each other for all that occurred during and after that fall evening.
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